An Honest Man

It's often forgotten how it came to be that uber prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald got appointed Special Counsel for the Plame investigation. After a period of Attorney General John Ashcroft's dithering and meddling, it finally dawned on someone that Ashcroft was conflicted out from the Plame case given the likelihood that the White House was involved, so responsibility for deciding what should be done passed to his deputy, James B. Comey. In his capacity as Acting Attorney General, Mr. Comey selected Patrick Fitzgerald because Comey believed Fitzgerald was the best US Attorney in the nation, and thus the best person for the job. (Comey behaved with similar rectitude when he took a principled stand against unfettered domestic surveillance.) And in due course, naturally, Comey got punished for his honesty, being passed over for the top job at Justice, landing on his feet at a defense contractor.

So if you are the sort of person who will celebrate today's verdict in the Libby trial, not vindictively, but as welcome evidence that the system works (sometimes), then perhaps you might also raise one toast for James B. Comey, patriot.